How MoodBeam can protect workers' mental health as they return to work

Hull-based Moodbeam was founded by the Gadget Shop founder and Red5 co-founder Jonathan Elvidge, and former journalist Christina Colmer McHugh, who came up with the idea after her daughter became anxious at school.

The device won the Innovation Partnership Award at the 2019 Barclays Entrepreneur Awards in London.

Moodbeam’s wearable device and companion app allows users to log their mood and monitor their emotional wellbeing.

The device, which links wirelessly to a paired device, gives insights into how moods change over time, showing patterns and trends that can be shared with trusted family, friends, and colleagues.

Ms Colmer McHugh said demand for Moonbeam could be huge, adding: “It’s already an incredibly stressful situation for many of us to find ourselves in. Those people who will be returning to work over the next few days will no doubt have concerns for safety – whether at work or travelling to and from their workplace – as well as the fact that many will still be required to juggle work with childcare or assisting vulnerable family members.

“It’s never been more important to monitor how we are really feeling so that we can do what we can to make positive changes to improve our wellbeing.

“Businesses can also use Moodbeam to monitor how their staff are feeling via anonymised data. This will give the workforce a voice and allow employers to identify pain points and make changes accordingly to ensure that people feel as safe as possible on the return to work.”

The Moodbeam One is designed to log mood with the simple push of a button. It is a wristband with two buttons and links in with an app to create a digital diary. The wearer presses the yellow button when feeling good and the blue button when feeling unhappy.

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